


what do you mean? i'm sorry by the way

by Anonymous



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Alternate Universe - Radio, Dialogue Heavy, Huang Ren Jun & Lee Donghyuck | Haechan Are Best Friends, M/M, idol jaemin, it's more comedy than something serious, radio host donghyuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:35:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25738156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Donghyuck can make anyone famous with a blink of his eyes. He can destroy someone’s whole career with a tilt of his head. He’s the best at what he does and he’s the country’s sweetheart. Jaemin is just trying to keep his job.or: after a rumor that almost ruins Jaemin, Donghyuck is doing his best to bring Jaemin back to his former glory, but Jaemin isn’t helping that much.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56
Collections: jaemin bday exchange





	what do you mean? i'm sorry by the way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [980517](https://archiveofourown.org/users/980517/gifts).



> DANI !!!!!!!! DANI I LOVE YOUUUUUUUU AAAAAAA <33
> 
> i had fun writing this !! it's what i'm used to write tbh ! dialogue and not something very serious, just for the giggles yk, so it was easy and comfortable mwah thanks for the prompt <3
> 
> hope you like this jeje and everyone too !!

The sunshine hour is one of the most popular radio shows in Seoul. It’s Donghyuck’s joy and pride; he, as the host of the show, is also one of the most known and loved people in Korea. He doesn’t let just anyone be a guest on sunshine— being there in the cabin with him, mics on, is a privilege.

Donghyuck’s opinion matters. It has a lot of weight. The people in his show are remarkable, promises of awareness and talent. The people in his show are people Donghyuck likes so, therefore, they are interesting people the rest of the world wants to know about.

Taking all of that into account he wonders (he really,  _ really  _ wonders) why is Na Jaemin standing in the middle of the cabin, bowing to him the moment Donghyuck enters.

"Well, we were going to host a girl group today but something happened and they canceled last second," Renjun, his best friend and the producer of the show, tells Donghyuck when he drags him out the cabin in hopes of an explanation as to why the hell is Na Jaemin there. "So I called my friend Yangyang, Jaemin's manager. We could have had you telling jokes and by yourself but Yangyang asked me a few days ago to bring Jaemin here so he could tell the rumors are bullshit and I thought whatever yeah why not."

Donghyuck’s eye twitches.

"Why not?" he repeats. "Because Na Jaemin is not a person I like, that's why."

"Don't be childish," Renjun groans. "You pretend to hate him because you don't know how to handle your crush on him."

"Shut up," he hisses. "I don't— what the fuck. I don't have a crush on him. I hate him. I tried to greet him three years ago and he ignored me. Hope he has a bad day every day."

"Donghyuck, we've talked about this: he didn't fucking see you. Even if he did see you, it was three years ago. It does not matter anymore."

"To you! It doesn't matter to you." 

Renjun nods, rolling his eyes. "Yes, yes. Just— be nice. Be professional. Stick to the pre-established script for celebrities. You can go back to hate him in one hour and ten minutes."

With that, he leaves and Donghyuck is left alone to try to gather his thoughts, put himself and his shit together and make a vague mental script for the interview.

There is a pre-established script everyone in the industry knows about. It’s not written, but if you’ve been here for at least 10 minutes, you know about those unspoken rules: you can ask personal things but not  _ too  _ personal things, sexuality is off-limits, ask about their music but don’t go too deep into it because some artists either don’t know much about their own music or just don’t care (which, eh, valid. Donghyuck doesn’t know anything about music either), and sometimes listen to artists speak about their music made the audience feel bored.

Donghyuck huffs. Well, he would have to ask Jaemin about his “relationship”. There is a rumor about him dating someone and it made his fans really mad. Long story short, there was vandalism towards his company’s building, burned albums, and a sabotaged comeback. Donghyuck has to admit Jaemin’s new album is really good. What a pity his fans didn’t appreciate it.

It reached the point where things got a bit… aggressive. Jaemin couldn’t come out of his apartment for a week and all his food had to be checked in case something weird was in there. He ended up moving to who knows where. Now, three weeks after all the chaos started, Jaemin is back in the spotlight. In all that time he didn’t have the chance to speak about his new music, which, ouch.

There is something so… sad, about the idols. About the people in the entertainment industry. The same audience who gives you everything, who claims to love you unconditionally is the same audience who disposes of you and gives you trash when you show you’re human, when they realize artists are their own persons, not just toys for the fans to play with. The worst part? When there are actual reasons to drop and let go, some people just  _ don’t  _ do it.

He can comprehend why Jaemin’s manager wanted him to come to the sunshine hour; many listeners trusted blindly whatever it was said in the show. If Jaemin said he isn’t dating anyone on Donghyuck’s show, everyone will believe him without a second thought. It’s almost funny, how the population of the country thought of Donghyuck as some kind of lie detector.

Back in the cabin, Jaemin is already seated and seemingly eager. He smiles shyly to Donghyuck, who doesn’t even have to make an effort to return the gesture.

_ Get it together, Lee Donghyuck, _ he mentally scolds himself.

“Ready?” Donghyuck asks, taking his seat in front of Jaemin. “It’s not like it’s your first interview, so I won’t bother telling you what to say and what not. This is for you, after all,” he shrugged. “Don’t worry, I’ll make you look good.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Jaemin says. The musical intro to the show starts. The mics aren’t on yet.

“Let’s restore that fame of yours, Na Jaemin.”

The show starts as usual, with Donghyuck saying his greetings, commenting a bit about his day, about the weather, doing what could be considered a one-sided conversation with the audience. Then he announces the name of his guest of the day, and Jaemin also cheerfully greets. Oh, Donghyuck knows how the number of listeners will tenfold in just seconds. No one has known anything about Na Jaemin in weeks, and his first appearance is in the sunshine hour? Donghyuck has no doubts even workplaces will tune in.

After Jaemin finishes a little story about baking cookies, Donghyuck finds himself genuinely giggling. Jaemin stares at him with the biggest grin ever, satisfied with the fact that he made him laugh. Donghyuck clears his throat, smiling politely, “So! I haven’t really heard that much about your new album, and I loved it, so I’d like to know more.”

_ Haven’t really heard _ is the gentle way to say it. No one heard  _ anything  _ at all. Jaemin’s smile dims a little.

“Oh, you liked it?” he asks, sounding surprised but happy. “I’m happy to hear that. I had so much fun making that album. I’m proud of it, too. It was my first time getting this involved. I was part of the production and composition team. I had written lyrics before, but they were never included in any album because honestly, they weren’t good. They sucked. I improved a lot, and I can proudly show the lyrics I wrote this time to the world without any fear. This time I had the opportunity, and I’m so glad it was like that.”

That is… quite some information. He’s used to artists who show only their perfect side, never admitting they have flaws, and if they admit it, they’re insignificant flaws that are not related to the music or dance they do. Jaemin, whose antis are trying to find anything, whatever reason to drag him, is in front of Donghyuck chuckling while admitting on-air he used to be bad at writing lyrics.

Na Jaemin and his career were reduced to almost nothing over a dumb rumor, and he’s here in Donghyuck’s show to prove he is still perfect, but ten minutes into the said show and he’s not trying to prove anything.

“I’m sure they were not that bad,” Donghyuck says, laughing lightly, always ready to fix his guests’ little stumbles. And may the Lord help him because some of his guests’ little stumbles sometimes were anything but  _ little. _

“Oh, no, they were. I’m not the best at composing,” he shrugs. “Back then I was the worst.”

Donghyuck’s smile becomes wider. It hurts. This interview is starting to hurt.

Can Jaemin like, fucking not?

“Well, but that is in the past! Now you’re really good. I loved all your songs, but why don’t you tell us what’s behind your title track?”

That is a safe topic. There’s nothing safer than the title track—

“I don’t like the title track, actually. I think is pretty lame.”

Donghyuck’s eye twitches. If his smile gets any bigger his cheeks may just fall off his face.

He remembers now. Some of his colleagues complained about Jaemin quite a lot.  _ It’s impossible to make him look good, he’s too honest, _ they said.  _ It’s also impossible to make him look bad! He’s so honest it’s too difficult to twist his words, and he just laughs even if you insult him, _ others told him.

“I think it's a great song.”

“I was the one who wrote it, and I don’t like it, but I mean, if you really liked it then thanks.”

“You just said you improved a lot with your lyrics.” His tone was amicable and playful, but internally he was hissing and cursing. Okay, you don’t want to do your part? Whatever. Donghyuck and his charisma can get you even more fans than the ones you used to have, just  _ be quiet. _

“Oh, I did! But that doesn’t mean I like everything I do, right?”

Right. Fucking absolutely right, but please don’t say it. That’s exactly the kind of thing you don’t say when possibly the entire country is listening to you while you supposedly try to get your career back.

“Of course. Then, which song did you write and actually like?” he asks, in part because he’s really curious but also because he needs to put Jaemin’s honest opinion and attention on something he has good feelings about.

“Guess,” Jaemin giggles. Donghyuck laughs too.

He wants to strangle that guy. Fuck his fans who would kill Donghyuck for that and fuck the law too.

Giving a glance to the outside of the cabin he finds that Renjun is crying because of the amount of laughing he’s going through. At least Yangyang smiles at him sympathetically.

“I’m not good at guessing, but what about if I tell you my favorite song and you tell me if that is one you liked?”

“Okay!”

“Dear dream.”

Jaemin looks taken aback. He blinks once, twice, thrice, and then he nods.

“Ah, dear dream,” he repeats, softly. “I like that song.”

“Tell us more about it, please.”

“It’s a song my best friend wrote. It’s— hm. Well, he was going to move to Canada, his natal country, and we were just angsty teenagers, so we tried to write a song as a farewell, even though we could just video call each other anytime. He was actually good at writing songs, but I was pretty sad, so I did a good job. Dear dream is a song we wrote together, but it’s mostly his. I just added some music to it, sang it and put it in my album. We still talk, and I love him a lot, he’s my best friend. So yeah, it’s a song that means a lot to me.”

He didn’t need to mention it for Donghyuck to know it. The smile on Jaemin’s face while talking about that song was fond, his voice tender and his eyes soft. It was clear he was remembering good things and that he didn’t have anything bad to say about his friend. He was being completely honest, completely sincere.

It isn’t weird to be sincere when you’re being interviewed. Artists don’t lie about every aspect of their life and career, but it’s hard to find someone this honest, even in normal circumstances.

So Donghyuck just observes while Jaemin talks, impressed. Okay, so maybe Jaemin is too honest and that makes Donghyuck’s job a bit harder than what it should be, but he realizes, perhaps he doesn’t really mind, not if Jaemin has that look in his eyes.

“I can see it does,” he responds, and it sounds too gentle to be something he would want for thousands of people to hear, so he quickly goes back to his cheerful tone. “So, about the process you followed for this album to be born…”

Donghyuck leads the conversation, and it still is an interview, but it feels more like just two friends talking after a while without contact, just catching up and laughing. Donghyuck feels like he’s definitely doing a good job, since Jaemin says way too honest comments only twice, and it is easy for Donghyuck to redirect the attention somewhere else.

“Ah, right!” Donghyuck exclaims, almost at the end of the sunshine hour, his head resting on his hand while he smirks at Jaemin. “There is this little rumor going around, and you know I love gossip, so tell me, are you actually dating someone?”

Laughing, Jaemin shakes his head. “No. I’m not dating anyone, I don’t know where this rumor came from.”

“I kinda knew it,” he hums. “I mean, it was so obvious it was fake! But people still believed in it. Disappointed, everyone, I’m really disappointed,” he sighs.

“It’s fine! It was stressing and I received a lot of hate over nothing, but I just hope people believe me.”

“I’m sure they will.”

After that, the rest of the time on-air is spent saying goodbye and telling little jokes. Soon, the mics are off and the headphones are on the table. Jaemin is the first one to get up, followed by Donghyuck, and Jaemin approaches to him, smiling brightly.

“That was great! We were literally doing our jobs but it didn’t feel like it in the slightest,” Jaemin comments, looking at Donghyuck with stars in his eyes.

If there is something Donghyuck considers flattering, it’s when people compliment his job. Donghyuck takes really seriously making his guests feel comfortable, so Jaemin expressing that he did in fact feel comfortable makes Donghyuck feel proud of himself.

The interview wasn’t what he was expecting, and it was disorganized at times, but he has to admit, Jaemin is not actually that bad.

“I’m glad you enjoyed being my guest,” Donghyuck beams.

Yangyang is already calling for Jaemin and Renjun is telling Donghyuck to hurry because they have something else to do. Jaemin gives his manager a glance before giving his attention to Donghyuck again.

“I enjoyed talking with you,” Jaemin corrects. “We should do it again. Let’s have dinner together soon?”

“I’d love to.”

So, Jaemin just denied a dating rumor, which is amazing because Donghyuck doesn’t have to worry whether he’s single or not. He can flirt all night and finally do something about that not-crush of his.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading ♡♡


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